


Lend Me Some Sugar (I Am Your Neighbor)

by damnfancyscotch



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Human Disaster Stiles, M/M, Oblivious Derek, Sterek Secret Santa 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:20:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21735160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/damnfancyscotch/pseuds/damnfancyscotch
Summary: Derek Hale likes his apartment.Okay, he’d go so far as to say he loves his apartment.The only downside is his neighbor.The thing is, Stiles Stilinski is loud and an insomniac and he’s got ADD and he has a tendency to talk to himself and play odd music at weird hours. He’s clumsy, always falling and dropping things. He swears like a sailor and sings loudly even though he’s terrible at it and is constantly cooking or baking or making candles.Whenever he encounters Derek in the hall, he smiles like a madman and shoves containers of cookies at him and spouts random shit and invites Derek over for video game sessions and once told him all about the history of male circumcision while Derek just stared at him with his keys in the door for almost fifteen minutes.In short, he’s weird and kind of a disaster.And since Derek is a werewolf, he’s got a front row seat to all the booms and crashes and other various noises that come from Stiles’ apartment on a day to day basis. He remains perpetually annoyed with, and also intrigued by, Stiles’ existence.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 17
Kudos: 312
Collections: The Sterek Secret Santa - Edition 2019





	Lend Me Some Sugar (I Am Your Neighbor)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gia279](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gia279/gifts).



> Gia279 - happy Sterek holiday to you! I hope you like the fic :]

Derek Hale likes his apartment.

It’s perfect and cozy and decorated exactly how he likes it and it’s close enough to work that he can walk if it’s nice out and also far enough from his family that he can have some distance.

It’s reasonably priced and has great natural light. It’s one of two units on the top floor of a restored factory and, okay, he’d go so far as to say he loves his apartment.

The only downside is his neighbor.

The thing is, Stiles Stilinski is loud and an insomniac and he’s got ADD and he has a tendency to talk to himself and play odd music at weird hours. He’s clumsy, always falling and dropping things. He swears like a sailor and sings loudly even though he’s terrible at it and is constantly cooking or baking or making candles.

Whenever he encounters Derek in the hall, he smiles like a madman and shoves containers of cookies at him and spouts random shit and invites Derek over for video game sessions and once told him all about the history of male circumcision while Derek just stared at him with his keys in the door for almost fifteen minutes.

In short, he’s weird and kind of a disaster.

And since Derek is a werewolf, he’s got a front row seat to all the booms and crashes and other various noises that come from Stiles’ apartment on a day to day basis.

He remains perpetually annoyed with, and also intrigued by, Stiles’ existence.

\-----

It’s a few days before Christmas and Derek has been trying to ignore the Christmas music and atrocious singing coming from next door for the past few hours. He’s got his book, his tea, and his favorite throw blanket all set up.

Around eight o’clock, he hears a crash and a squawk of surprise from Stiles’ apartment. He looks up from his book, head cocked as he listens. He doesn’t hear anything else so he shrugs and starts reading again.

After a while, he hears a short knock.

Derek pauses, waiting, but there’s silence so he just rolls his eyes and turns the page.

_Knock knock knock._

Derek’s eyebrows twitch but he keeps reading, reaching out to grab his tea and take a long sip.

_Knock knock knock._

He sighs, getting up and peeking into the hallway to see if Stiles is just ignoring a guest, but there’s no one in the hall.

_Knock knock knock._

He frowns. If he didn’t know better, he might say that it sounds like…

He sighs, going back to stand in front of the wall he shares with Stiles. He feels like a crazy person, but he waits for the knocking to come again.

_Knock knock knock._

There. He moves a chair out of his way and crouches down by the wall.

Feeling ridiculous, he knocks back three times.

There’s a surprised cry and, just barely he hears, “Derek!”

“Jesus Christ,” Derek mutters, rubbing his hand over his face. He knows Stiles won’t be able to hear him as well as he can so he has to shout, “Stiles?”

Stiles knocks again and calls, “Help!”

Derek sighs and gets to his feet. There’s really no telling what he’s walking into, considering once he got roped into helping Stiles hang hundreds of string lights around his apartment and another time he held an antenna for thirty minutes while Stiles watched a Polish soap opera.

Stiles’ door is unlocked, even though Derek’s told him time and time again he should lock it. Derek shuts the door and calls, “Stiles?”

“Oh thank God for werewolf hearing,” Stiles mutters from further in the apartment. “I’m in the living room!”

“It looks like Christmas threw up in here.” Derek steps over rolls of wrapping paper and gift bags.

“Yeah, I was trying to get into the spirit,” Stiles explains.

Derek frowns when he gets in the living room and sees that the tree is knocked over. He’s about to ask where Stiles is when he sees a pair of bare feet poking out from the branches.

“Are you seriously under the tree right now?”

“If I make a joke about being your Christmas present, will you get this damn thing off me faster?” Stiles grumbles from under the tree.

Derek can’t help the smile that curls his mouth. “Only you, Stiles.”

Stiles makes an offended sound. “You _can’t_ know that, Derek. I’m sure there’s a terrible statistic about how dangerous Christmas trees are and how often they fall over. I’m likely one of many a poor unfortunate soul that’s been attacked by these cursed pine corpses.”

Derek shakes his head as he gets the tree right side up. “You’re fine.”

“Don’t think I am, big guy,” Stiles grunts, arm pressed to his side. “I think I may have fucked up my shoulder on the way down.”

Derek frowns. “Let’s get you up.”

They get Stiles on the couch and Derek presses the tip of his finger against Stiles’ shoulder. The black lines that curl over his skin tell him that Stiles may have done some actual damage to himself this time.

“What’s the prognosis, Doctor Heartthrob?” Stiles asks, fluttering his eyelashes. “Do I need the Bite?”

He sighs, shaking his head at Stiles’ antics. “Well, you’re actually hurt.”

“No shit, Sherlock.” Stiles winces and mutters, “Stupid fucking tree.”

Derek stands and heads toward the front door. On his way to the door, he asks, “Why is there a throwing star on top of the tree?”

Somehow, even though he’s pale as milk and clutching his arm to his side, Stiles looks proud and haughty as he declares, “It’s _tradition_ Derek, don’t you pay attention?”

“That… you know what?” He puts his hands up and shakes his head. “I don’t actually care.”

Stiles rolls his eyes. “Then why did you ask?”

“Because I’m crazy, obviously, and somehow keep letting you rope me into this weird shit.” He leans down to grab a pair of shoes from the pile by the door. “Left foot,” he orders when he gets back to where Stiles is sulking on the couch.

Stiles scowls but obediently holds out his foot.

Once Derek’s got shoes on him, he drapes a hoodie around Stiles’ shoulders and commands, “Out. We’re going to the hospital.”

“I want it known that I am going under protest,” Stiles declares as Derek herds him down the hall to the elevator. “Also that I am being bullied by a buff werewolf and I’m not okay with it.”

“Yeah, yeah, cry about it.”

\-----

It should say something about them that this isn’t the first time that Derek’s brought Stiles to the hospital.

The nurses know him and hand the clipboard over to him once they see that Stiles isn’t moving his arm. They settle in the plastic chairs to wait and Stiles sighs.

“I had so many _plans_.”

“What kind of plans?” Derek asks as he fills out Stiles’ information.

“The Christmas kind. The Took-Me-A-Whole-Year-To-Plan type of plans.” He actually sounds bummed out, which is odd for Stiles.

Derek glances over and sees Stiles look away with a frown.

Before he can say anything else, a curly-haired nurse in blue scrubs appears in front of them. She gives them a once over, nods to Derek, and asks, “Stiles, honey, what happened this time?”

“Hey Melissa,” Stiles greets. “My Christmas tree got away from me a little bit.”

She sighs, shaking her head. “Let’s get that looked at.”

Stiles stands up and follows her. He sends a small smile and a salute over his shoulder to Derek before they disappear down the hall.

It doesn’t take too terribly long for them to determine that Stiles’ shoulder is sprained. He reappears following Melissa with his arm in a sling and a dejected look on his face.

Melissa hands Derek a bag of medicine and says, “Make sure he doesn’t over do it.”

Derek sighs, knowing that protesting that he’s not Stiles’ keeper won’t get him far, and agrees, “Alright.” He jerks his head at Stiles. “Ready to go home?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

He’s oddly silent until Derek gets him into his apartment and helps him to his room. He perches on a small chair in the corner and says lightly, “You know, normally, I don’t even bother with a tree.”

Derek glances up from attempting to make sense of the blankets on Stiles’ bed. He sleeps more like a wolf than Derek does, all his blankets and pillows piled together and twisted around each other. “Then why did you this year?”

“Ah, see, I have this neighbor…” Stiles laughs. “He’s really great and I thought, well, maybe I could invite him over for dinner and it would be festive and I could tell him that I think he’s cute and maybe we could kiss on New Year’s.”

Derek nods, only halfway listening. He opens his mouth to reply when Stiles’ words actually permeate. “Wait, did you just ask me out?”

“Oh my god,” Stiles sighs, shaking his head. “You know I’ve been flirting with you since I moved in and I’ve asked you out about twelve times?”

Derek blinks at him. “What? Why?”

“I like you.” Stiles smiles, his head tilting to the side. “You’re fun and always down to participate in my schemes and your eyes are gorgeous and you look cute as hell first thing in the morning. Plus, I know how annoying I can be and you’re a really good sport about all the racket I make and you actually eat the food I make for you, even if it looks crazy or weird. And you don’t care that I know you’re a werewolf and still make fun of you for it and haven’t even threatened to eat me which is way better than most people can say.”

It’s a lot, but it’s so _Stiles_ that Derek finds himself smiling. “You know, the next time you try to flirt with someone, telling them about male circumcision might not be the way to go about it.”

Stiles scoffs. “Please, it made _you_ like me.” His smile widens. “I must have done something right.”

“Must have,” he agrees.

“Yeah?” Stiles’ smile is blinding.

Derek smiles back, nodding. “Yeah.”

\-----

They do kiss on New Year’s.

Stiles laughs into his champagne and ends up with it all over his face and Derek tastes the sweetness as he presses their mouths together and the sky explodes with fireworks.

\-----

Stiles isn’t sure about his neighbor.

“The neighbor is weird.” He stares at the wall, picturing his old apartment on the other side, and taps his fingers on his hips.

“I don’t know that you’re legally allowed to call anyone weird,” Derek teases.

He snorts, not disagreeing. “Fair, but I’m just saying, I think he might be a kanima.”

“What’s that?” Derek asks from his place on the couch, book in hand, tea at his elbow.

Stiles plops next to him on the couch. “Giant lizard with paralytic venom and crazy strength.” He hums to himself then frowns. “He’s gonna repaint the bathroom for sure. That’s annoying.”

“I’m not sure what the correlation is between being a giant lizard and not wanting a purple bathroom.” He looks at Stiles. “What are you going to do?”

Stiles grins. “I’m gonna make him cookies.” He hops off the couch. “Then I’ll go introduce myself.”

Derek shakes his head, a smile on his face.

His poor new neighbor has no idea what he’s just moved into.

**Author's Note:**

> xoxo
> 
> kisskiss  
> ♡ Scotch


End file.
